Middle East & North Africa

2013

The Killing of Al-Hosseiny Abou Deif

By Sherif Mansour

The fatal shooting of El-Fagr reporter Al-Hosseiny Abou Deif during clashes between anti-government protesters and Muslim Brotherhood supporters outside the presidential palace last December seemed, at first blush, to fit a sadly familiar pattern: a journalist killed covering a political demonstration, the victim of a stray bullet fired recklessly in the heat of street violence.

2. Military Censorship

By Sherif Mansour

A swarm of police vehicles converged on Media Production City moments after Gen. Abdul-Fattah al-Sisi announced on July 3 that Mohamed Morsi had been ousted. The compound outside Cairo is home to nearly every TV station in Egypt, but the police were targeting five particular stations that night: the Muslim Brotherhood-run Misr25, and four pro-Morsi Islamist stations. One by one, the stations’ live coverage went off the air, while police herded and handcuffed about 200 employees, confiscated equipment, and seized cell phones. Taken to a security facility, the employees were interrogated about their associations with the Muslim Brotherhood. Most of the administrative and support workers were released in a few hours, but 22 journalists were kept for more than a day on accusations of conspiring to overthrow the regime.

NGO Case Criminalizes Human Rights Work

By Jean-Paul Marthoz

A criminal case that was launched under the previous transitional military government has cast a shadow over the current government, with its implications that international human rights and democracy workers are somehow foreign agents working against national security.

New York, August 13, 2013--At least four journalists have been
attacked, threatened, or obstructed while covering sit-ins held by supporters
of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, according to news reports. The sit-ins
began in the lead-up to the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi, the
reports said.

Israeli authorities released Palestinian journalist Amer Abu Arafa, a
correspondent for Shihab News Agency, on August 5, 2013, after holding him in
administrative detention for nearly two years, according to news
reports.

Tags:

The Emirati authorities released the
Egyptian journalist Anas Fouda on August 4, 2013, after holding him incommunicado
without charge for a month, the journalist told CPJ. Security officials told
Fouda that his UAE residency was revoked and took him to the Abu Dhabi
International Airport, where he flew to Cairo to join his family, Fouda said.

Several Tunisian journalists reported being harassed, threatened,
and attacked during the three-day protests following the July 25, 2013,
assassination of opposition leader Mohamed al-Barahmi, according to local
journalists and news reports.

New York, August 1, 2013--A Bahraini blogger
has been detained and a photographer is missing amid signs that Bahraini
authorities are trying to crack down on critical voices ahead of protests planned
for August 14, according to news reports.

Tags:

New York, August 1, 2013--The Committee to
Protect Journalists calls for the immediate release of Egyptian journalist Anas
Fouda, who has been held without charge by the United Arab Emirates authorities
for almost a month.